"le" meaning in English

See le in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Article

IPA: /lə/, /leɪ/ [US, especially], /liː/ [rare] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Ookap-le.wav , en-us-le.ogg
Rhymes: -ə, -eɪ, -iː Etymology: Borrowed from French le (“the”). Popularized especially by the expression le sigh. Etymology templates: {{etymid|en|the}}, {{bor+|en|fr|le|t=the}} Borrowed from French le (“the”) Head templates: {{head|en|article}} le
  1. (informal, humorous) the Tags: humorous, informal Derived forms: le sigh Related terms: moi, ze
    Sense id: en-le-en-article-uXdtfd9F Categories (other): English articles
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Preposition

IPA: /lə/, /li/, /leɪ/ [sometimes]
Etymology: borrowed from Old French lez (“side”). Etymology templates: {{etymid|en|near}}, {{lg|loanword|borrowed}} borrowed, {{der|en|fro|lez|t=side}} Old French lez (“side”) Head templates: {{en-head|prep}} le
  1. (obsolete) Next to, near (still used in some place names). Tags: obsolete
    Sense id: en-le-en-prep-en:near Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English prepositions Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 24 76 Disambiguation of English prepositions: 5 95
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2
{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "the"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "etymid"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "le",
        "t": "the"
      },
      "expansion": "Borrowed from French le (“the”)",
      "name": "bor+"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from French le (“the”). Popularized especially by the expression le sigh.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "article"
      },
      "expansion": "le",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "article",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English articles",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "le sigh"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              2
            ],
            [
              8,
              10
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1949, Michael Maltese, For Scent-imental Reasons, spoken by Penelope Pussycat:",
          "text": "Le mew. Le purr.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              23,
              25
            ],
            [
              57,
              59
            ],
            [
              69,
              71
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1996 September 28, Game Freak, Pokémon Blue, Nintendo, level/area: S.S. Anne:",
          "text": "Waiter: 'Bonjour! I am le waiter on this ship! [...] Ah! Le strong silent type!'",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              17,
              19
            ],
            [
              48,
              50
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2001 June 24, LaManna, “My Weekend...”, in alt.punk (Usenet):",
          "text": "[…]upon arrival, le girlfriend realizes she has left her ID back at my house (a 1 1/2 hour roundtrip on the Metro), […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              9,
              11
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2002 December 27, Amelia, “Re: Neat things SANTA brought me...”, in alt.fashion (Usenet):",
          "text": "And then le boyfriend perks up and names around 8 different brands (Stila, MAC, Becca, Nars etc..) - I was *SO* proud of him!! :)",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              33,
              35
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2003 January 10, johnny dupe (quoting nowhere man), “Re: I can walk with jezus...”, in alt.fan.wings (Usenet):",
          "text": "That was always OUR song (me and le girlfriend of the time).",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              192,
              194
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2012 October 1, Miranda Kenneally, Stealing Parker, Sourcebooks, Inc., →ISBN, page 63:",
          "text": "That's when Waitress Seductress Extraordinaire comes back and gets our order. […] \"We're sharing an order of à la Appalachia, he says, handing over the menus and turning his focus back to me. Le waitress stomps off. I ask, \"Why are they called that?\" \"Because when they've got the fries stacked up they're higher than a mountain range.\" I groan and touch my stomach. \"You're funny,\" he says, his eyes twinkling.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "the"
      ],
      "id": "en-le-en-article-uXdtfd9F",
      "links": [
        [
          "the",
          "the"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, humorous) the"
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "moi"
        },
        {
          "word": "ze"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/lə/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Ookap-le.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a6/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Ookap-le.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Ookap-le.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a6/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Ookap-le.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Ookap-le.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/leɪ/",
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "especially"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/liː/",
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-le.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/54/En-us-le.ogg/En-us-le.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/En-us-le.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ə"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪ"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-iː"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "luh (with /ə/)"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "lay"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "lei"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "ley (with /eɪ/)"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "lea"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "Lea"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "Lee"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "leigh"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "Leigh"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "li (with /iː/)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "le"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "near"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "etymid"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "loanword",
        "2": "borrowed"
      },
      "expansion": "borrowed",
      "name": "lg"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "lez",
        "t": "side"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French lez (“side”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "borrowed from Old French lez (“side”).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "prep"
      },
      "expansion": "le",
      "name": "en-head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "24 76",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "5 95",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English prepositions",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              8,
              10
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Chester-le-Street is a town in County Durham near an old Roman road.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "Dalton-le-Dale, Hetton-le-Hole, Witton-le-Wear"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Next to, near (still used in some place names)."
      ],
      "id": "en-le-en-prep-en:near",
      "links": [
        [
          "Next to",
          "next to"
        ],
        [
          "near",
          "near"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) Next to, near (still used in some place names)."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:near"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/lə/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/li/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/leɪ/",
      "tags": [
        "sometimes"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "le"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English articles",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English prepositions",
    "English terms borrowed from French",
    "English terms derived from French",
    "English terms derived from Old French",
    "English terms with homophones",
    "Pages with 57 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪ",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪ/1 syllable",
    "Rhymes:English/iː",
    "Rhymes:English/iː/1 syllable",
    "Rhymes:English/ə",
    "Rhymes:English/ə/1 syllable"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "le sigh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "the"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "etymid"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "le",
        "t": "the"
      },
      "expansion": "Borrowed from French le (“the”)",
      "name": "bor+"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from French le (“the”). Popularized especially by the expression le sigh.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "article"
      },
      "expansion": "le",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "article",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "moi"
    },
    {
      "word": "ze"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English humorous terms",
        "English informal terms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              2
            ],
            [
              8,
              10
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1949, Michael Maltese, For Scent-imental Reasons, spoken by Penelope Pussycat:",
          "text": "Le mew. Le purr.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              23,
              25
            ],
            [
              57,
              59
            ],
            [
              69,
              71
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1996 September 28, Game Freak, Pokémon Blue, Nintendo, level/area: S.S. Anne:",
          "text": "Waiter: 'Bonjour! I am le waiter on this ship! [...] Ah! Le strong silent type!'",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              17,
              19
            ],
            [
              48,
              50
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2001 June 24, LaManna, “My Weekend...”, in alt.punk (Usenet):",
          "text": "[…]upon arrival, le girlfriend realizes she has left her ID back at my house (a 1 1/2 hour roundtrip on the Metro), […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              9,
              11
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2002 December 27, Amelia, “Re: Neat things SANTA brought me...”, in alt.fashion (Usenet):",
          "text": "And then le boyfriend perks up and names around 8 different brands (Stila, MAC, Becca, Nars etc..) - I was *SO* proud of him!! :)",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              33,
              35
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2003 January 10, johnny dupe (quoting nowhere man), “Re: I can walk with jezus...”, in alt.fan.wings (Usenet):",
          "text": "That was always OUR song (me and le girlfriend of the time).",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              192,
              194
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2012 October 1, Miranda Kenneally, Stealing Parker, Sourcebooks, Inc., →ISBN, page 63:",
          "text": "That's when Waitress Seductress Extraordinaire comes back and gets our order. […] \"We're sharing an order of à la Appalachia, he says, handing over the menus and turning his focus back to me. Le waitress stomps off. I ask, \"Why are they called that?\" \"Because when they've got the fries stacked up they're higher than a mountain range.\" I groan and touch my stomach. \"You're funny,\" he says, his eyes twinkling.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "the"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "the",
          "the"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, humorous) the"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/lə/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Ookap-le.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a6/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Ookap-le.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Ookap-le.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a6/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Ookap-le.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Ookap-le.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/leɪ/",
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "especially"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/liː/",
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-le.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/54/En-us-le.ogg/En-us-le.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/En-us-le.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ə"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪ"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-iː"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "luh (with /ə/)"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "lay"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "lei"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "ley (with /eɪ/)"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "lea"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "Lea"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "Lee"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "leigh"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "Leigh"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "li (with /iː/)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "le"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English prepositions",
    "English terms derived from Old French",
    "Pages with 57 entries",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "near"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "etymid"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "loanword",
        "2": "borrowed"
      },
      "expansion": "borrowed",
      "name": "lg"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "lez",
        "t": "side"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French lez (“side”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "borrowed from Old French lez (“side”).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "prep"
      },
      "expansion": "le",
      "name": "en-head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with obsolete senses",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              8,
              10
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Chester-le-Street is a town in County Durham near an old Roman road.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "Dalton-le-Dale, Hetton-le-Hole, Witton-le-Wear"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Next to, near (still used in some place names)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Next to",
          "next to"
        ],
        [
          "near",
          "near"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) Next to, near (still used in some place names)."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:near"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/lə/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/li/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/leɪ/",
      "tags": [
        "sometimes"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "le"
}

Download raw JSONL data for le meaning in English (5.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-02-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-02-01 using wiktextract (f492ef9 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.